


Hypermnesia

by ardett



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Altean Shiro (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe- Selkie, Canon Universe, Galra Keith (Voltron), Language of Flowers, M/M, Reincarnation, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, it's reincarnation based around different AUs, only tagged with character death because of reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-22 20:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10704297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardett/pseuds/ardett
Summary: The five times Keith forgot and the one time he didn't.(A 5+1 fic based around reincarnation and AUs.)





	Hypermnesia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nekumei](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Nekumei).



> Made for the [Sheith Flower Exchange](https://twitter.com/sheithbouquet) on Twitter with [Nekumei](https://twitter.com/nekumeichan) as my recipient. My prompt flowers were the white lily (purity, sweetness), the syringa (memory), and the pink carnation ("I will never forget you"). 
> 
> Dear Nekumei,  
> I took a lot of liberties. (But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.)  
> Sincerly, Ardett

  1. don’t forget



 

The marble floor is warm beneath Keith’s bare feet. The sun is only an hour past risen but its rays heat the whole palace. The light sparks off the gold filigrees that line the towering columns and are inlaid in the floor. The air slides smoothly down his throat, the swirl of dry desert air from the south side of the palace mixing in with the humid air that drifts in from the river and weaves through the north half of the kingdom.

The whole palace is designed to be open air and like all the other inhabitants in these marble walls, Keith has always been encouraged to take advantage of this. His feet leave his bedroom floor in favor of the window sill. The sun beats down on his skin, but the sunlight is already set so deep in Keith’s skin that it radiates in his bones. Unlike their fairer cousins in the kingdoms of ice, the sun has never hurt the people of the Land of Flame, never burned them.

Keith glances back into his room for only a second, eyes catching on the gold leaf crown and royal crest embedded in the floor. It is the only crown of any sort in his room. It’s beautiful in its design and craftsmanship: all shining metal and delicate diamonds sprawling through the veins of warm stone. But it is nothing compared to the true mark of royalty in the Land of Flame.

Keith shifts to the end of the window sill. Grabbing ahold of the wall, he swings his feet up to notch into the heated stone. The near scorching heat of the wall only sinks into his palms, absorbed into his marrow. His nails glint as he climbs, their pure gold warming his skin. It’s with the practiced ease of years that Keith hoists himself onto the roof.

He gazes out at the lands. To the south, there is a sea of red and gold sand. It’s where their riches come from. There’s no need to mine gold when it’s right there, blowing in the wind with flecks of scarlet. To the north winds the life blood of the kingdom, a vast river that feeds their farmlands.

Keith lies on his back, looking up at the sun. He’s heard that here in the Land of Flame they are closer to the sun than any other place. But he has never been anywhere else, so he cannot know.

Shiro would know.

Keith's heart aches for him. It reminds him why he came up to the roof so early today. He shifts to dangle his legs over the edge of marble, watching and waiting for Shiro's caravan to arrive.

His shadow has shifted five inches beneath the sun when he sees the first trace of fluttering blue fabric coming from the West. His breath catches in his throat and he whirls off the roof, climbing back down to his room. He throws on the proper clothes, the light silks flowing between his legs as he runs down the palace stairs.

“Prince Keith,” the guard at the front door addresses him. “The envoy from the Ice Kingdom has arrived.”

“I know.” Keith answers breathlessly as he slips outside. “Let my father know?” The guard nods but Keith only has eyes for Shiro.

“Shiro!” Keith throws himself into Shiro's arms. The envoy's skin is cold that doesn't matter as Shiro returns the embrace.

“I told you I'd be back, didn't I?” Shiro laughs as they finally release each other.

“What took you so long?”

“Just a little sickness when I got back home; nothing serious. Besides, I was only gone a couple of weeks.”

By now, Keith's father has made his way outside. Though court meetings are usually conducted outside under the watchful eye of the sun, in deference to the Ice Kingdom’s citizens, they move inside to discuss the imminent plans of alliance and the arrival of the Ice Kingdom's queen and prince. The conference is short, since the real decisions will be made once the other royalty arrives. Shiro is only here as an envoy, a precursor to his rulers.

But he is here all the same. Keith does not waste these days they get to spend together.

The first day, they just sit on the roof and talk. Shiro tells Keith more of the Ice Kingdom, where all the light is fractured through the skyscrapers of ice that ark over the city. Keith looks at the sun hanging over the Land of Flame. He would miss it, he thinks, if all he ever got its diluted rays.

 _How do you do that?_ Shiro asks.

_Do what?_

_You look directly at sun. In the city, we say that to look directly at the sun is to be blinded._ Keith just shrugs but he’s acutely aware of yet another difference between them. The pale eyes of the Ice Kingdom stare back into Keith’s own dark irises.

Keith tells Shiro stories of his childhood, the days he spent learning how to harvest gold from the sands with his citizens, strengthening himself by swimming upstream, the first time he climbed up to the highest part of the palace with his father.

On the second day, Keith takes Shiro to see all these things first hand.

On the third day, the last day before the Ice Kingdom’s royalty arrives, Keith and Shiro wake up early. They watch the sun rise over the glistening golden sands, sitting on the window’s ledge. Keith looks down at their intertwined hands, his nails that grow in pure gold and Shiro’s fingers that are always cold.

“Shiro…” Keith swallows. For the first time, the air sticks dry in his throat. “Can I paint your nails gold?”

Shiro blinks and Keith thinks that if Shiro refuses him, he will be more than crushed. He will be devastated. People in the Land of Flame only ever fall in love once. He can’t imagine losing Shiro.

Shiro nods. “Yeah, if you want to.”

Keith’s face lights up and he leans over to kiss Shiro. “Thank you. I love you.”

Shiro’s smile falters for a second before he whispers back a little sadly, “I love you too.”

 

Shiro holds out his hand next to Keith’s, his painted nails shimmering next to the ones Keith was born with. They both wear the mark of royalty now.

 

Lance and Allura, the ice prince and queen, are in the throne room when Shiro and Keith make their way downstairs. The queen steps up to greet Keith with a firm handshake. They all gather at the table, and Shiro sits next to Keith with a gesture from the flame prince. Queen Allura begins, “As you know, we’re here to discuss an alliance between our people. Something mutually beneficial, it would open up trade and communication between our countries. Our ancestors may have preferred their isolation, but our world is growing. We must grow with it.”

Keith’s father nods. “Yes. I believe the way your culture solidifies union is through marriage.”

“That is correct.” Allura’s eyes flicker to Keith for a moment. Shiro tucks his hands under the table. Keith wonders if Shiro feels out of place seated with all the other royalty, but surely he must know- “Lance is willing to marry into the line of the Land of Flame. Would Prince Keith consider his proposal?”

“What?” The ice prince flinches at Keith’s abrupt interjection.

“Do you not find same sex marriage suitable in your culture?” Allura asks.

The king’s brow furrows. “Perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding. My son is already betrothed.”

Shiro stiffens next to Keith, every line in his body going rigid.

“Shiro?” Keith whispers nervously.

Shiro doesn’t even look at him. “You’ve been betrothed this whole time? And we’ve- I knew it would end eventually when you had to marry into royalty, but I at least thought that all the time we spent together was… was real.” Shiro finally turns to him, hurt echoing in his eyes before he closes them. “I’m- I’m sorry. It’s not my place to speak to you like this.”

“I don’t understand.” Keith says quietly. He can barely hear his own voice.

“I shouldn’t be sitting here next to you. I- I forgot myself.” Shiro moves to push himself away from the table and Keith’s hand shoots out to grab his wrist.

“Wait! I- I don’t understand; you accepted my proposal. I thought-”

“What?”

“I-” Keith swallows, eyes darting to his father for a second but the king seems just as lost as Keith. Keith lowers his voice because even though they’re before a crowd, this feels like something private. “I asked to paint your nails gold, Shiro. You know that our royalty has gold nails. I was asking you to marry into my line, to become royalty. I was asking you to marry me.”

“What? I- I can’t-” Shiro looks frantic. “You’re meant to marry Lance, I can’t-”

“I don’t see why I can’t marry you. I’d still be marrying into the Ice Kingdom.”

“I’m an envoy, Keith. I’m sorry. I know you see things differently here but that’s not how we do things in the Ice Kingdom.” Shiro turns to the queen and Keith’s heart cracks, painful and jagged. “Queen Allura, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I meant no disrespect. You have to understand, things are conducted differently here in the Land of Flame. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I should have been more educated on their culture. Please forgive me.”

The subservience that seeps into Shiro’s tone sickens Keith. Shiro’s right. They do indeed do things differently here. No citizens of the Land of Flame, envoy or otherwise, would ever sink so low.

“I don’t blame you, Shiro.” Allura folds her hands over her lap diplomatically. “But Prince Keith, you must understand: our people would only accept an alliance between royalty. The union of you and my brother is the most viable option.”

All the air feels like it’s been sucked out of Keith’s lungs. Keith’s father seems equally unsettled as he says, “If your envoy is the champion of my son’s heart, then they should be together. Perhaps you do things differently in the Ice Kingdom, but here in the Land of Flame, we only bond once.”

Allura appears sympathetic but she doesn’t respond. Keith says he’ll think about it.

 

_(A champion, the champion of his heart?)_

_(don’t forget)_

 

Two days later, Prince Lance is sick.

It’s sudden and violent. Keith’s father calls in a doctor but it seems like there’s nothing amiss, certainly not something that could cause such a reaction. They test Keith too, since he’s the closest in age and body type, but their scans come back exactly the same. Only Lance is sick and Keith is not.

A doctor from the Ice Kingdom makes the journey between their countries in one day. He spends an hour looking over Lance, looking over the scans, before he comes back with the results.

Radiation poisoning.

Lance has it. Keith has it. Keith’s father has it.

Every citizen they test in the Land of Flame has it.

In a brief fit of consciousness, Lance mutters about how they have no elderly here. Allura asks how long the average lifespan is in the Land of Flame. She tells them people in the Ice Kingdom live well into their nineties. She has to ask twice before Keith whispers that the healthiest of them live to fifty.

It’s the sun. Like Shiro had said, they’re closer to the sun here. Closer to the ultraviolet rays, the solar radiation. Evidently, closer to death. The warmth in Keith’s bones, the piece of stolen sun in his marrow, is radiation and it’s killing him.

Shiro tells him he could come to the Ice Kingdom but Keith tells him no. He’d rather live a short and free life, where he can visit his people and climb to the roof and walk through the palace barefoot, than a long one under someone else’s rule. It’s a good life here, he tells Shiro. It’s worth it, he tries to say.

Allura looks out the window almost as if she can see Keith’s people dying. She says that if Shiro decides to stay with Keith, she will consider that an alliance between their people.

Keith whispers, _Don’t stay just for this. Don’t marry me for this._

And Shiro whispers back against his lips, _I’m not._

 

Allura and Lance leave the next day.

Shiro and Keith are married two months later.

 

The Land of Flame prospers under the Keith and Shiro’s rule. Trade with the Ice Kingdom accelerates both of their technologies. Knowledge and commerce flow constantly between the two countries. Some citizens move to the Ice Kingdom. Some move to the Land of Flame. People say it’s worth it either way. _And yes,_ Keith thinks, _it is._

Shiro and Keith live well and happily into their sixties.

 

  1. Don’t forget



 

Keith’s soulmarks are almost always covered. Covering the first one makes sense. It's a white lily with delicate petals that bloom from his shoulder, so often hidden under shirt sleeves and jackets. The lily’s stem winds down his arm in careful curls to the second flower, a pink carnation that spreads from the back of his hand to his knuckles. It is the reason Keith always wears gloves.

When Keith was twenty, he still hadn't found his soulmate. That was okay, many people he knew hadn't either. When Keith was twenty, his soulmark changed. Its colors faded back into his flesh, a pale imitation of what it once was. The lily kept most of its vibrance, pure and white, but the carnation… It was a ghost of its former self.

He tries not to look at his hand most days. It’s just a painful reminder of what he could have loved, what he did lose. He did his research, he knows what it means.

People's marks fade when their soulmate dies.

(It’s peculiar though. Right in the middle of his upper arm, the color bleeds back into the stems, no longer faded. How odd, how very odd.)

 

Keith meets Shiro in his physics lab, after the teacher rotates seats in the class and Keith is forced to move to the front of the room. Keith runs on a lot of intuition, which is good for the conceptual topics, but the hard numbers are killing him. It starts casually, with Shiro just pointing out a formula to him or writing in an extra zero on his paper. Then they start working together as lab partners and texting to discuss the homework. Then texting about topics unrelated to homework.

Keith wonders who Shiro’s soulmate is.

Keith had checked Shiro’s hand for a mark automatically, despite knowing his soulmate wasn’t out there at all, certainly wasn’t in his college physics class. No, his soulmate is…

He didn’t see any soul mark, pink carnation or otherwise, only a prosthetic limb and gold painted nails. Shiro had lost his arm at war when he was eighteen and was honorably discharged soon after. Shiro painted his nails because he liked to.

The first time Shiro invites Keith to his house, he paints Keith’s nails gold as well. They match for a good three days before the polish begins to chip.

 

_(His nails have been gold before. Painted gold? No…)_

_(don’t forget, Don’t forget)_

 

The second time Keith goes to Shiro’s house, it’s for a sleepover with some of Shiro’s other friends. It’s really nice, actually. Pidge is wicked smart and hilarious. Hunk seems good natured and Lance, well, Hunk seems to temper him down but not by much. Lance is intentionally aggravational and confrontational in a way that always seems to make Keith’s hackles rise.

The hours tick by into dark lateness. Dinner passed hours ago, but with free reign over the house, they’ve gotten into the candy stores and gorged themselves. Keith can still feel the sugar buzzing in his veins. He knows the sugar crash is going to hit him hard.

“Hey, so what are your guys’ soulmarks?” Lance grins, hanging on Hunk’s shoulder.

“You already know.” Pidge protests, blinking drowsily.

“Not everyone's!”

“You mean not Keith’s.” Pidge yawns.

There’s a nervous thrum in Keith’s body, dulled, like everything, by the sugar.

“Well, we can all share. Come on, it’ll be like, a bonding thing.”

Keith fiddles with his glove and shakes his head.

Lance opens his mouth and Shiro says, “Lance. Don’t be rude.” Shiro turns to Keith. “There’s no pressure. I know it’s something personal. But you… you don’t have to be ashamed of your mark. Everyone’s is different.”

“Yeah!” Lance interjects. “Me and Hunk’s are on the top of our feet! What a weird place, am I right? Do you know how awkward it is to inconspicuously check out people’s feet? Some of my other partners thought I had a fetish-”

“Woah, we don’t want to know!” cries Pidge. “I don’t even have one, so I really don’t want to know about your relationship escapades, seriously!”

Keith smiles a little at that, before nerves get the better of him and the grin fades. Fades like…

The elastic of his glove snaps against the inside of his wrist.

Shiro goes next, shrugging off the blanket he had had wrapped around his shoulders. “I lost part of my mark with my arm. I used to have a pink carnation on my hand. My mother used to tell me that a pink carnation means I will never forget you, so I thought it might mean… my soulmate had forgotten me. Moved on. I wouldn’t blame them for not seeking out a broken man.” Keith’s nails are digging into his knees, ten pin pricks of pain. He doesn’t even notice. “I still have this part though.” Shiro pulls up his sleeve to show a white lily, just above where the metal melds into his skin. “The stem used to connect to the carnation before… Well, you know. Keith, are you alright?”

Keith looks down at his knees. There’s trickle of red where he’s drawn blood. He thinks about relaxing his muscles, letting go, but his hands spasm and his nails dig in deeper.

“Keith! Keith, stop!” Shiro grabs his hands, pulling them away from Keith’s flesh. There’s blood under his fingernails but Keith doesn’t care. He looks up at Shiro.

“I… I thought you were dead.”

“What?”

Keith’s vision blurs. “I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead because my mark- my mark faded.” Keith claws at his glove. It takes him a few tries as his coordination slips and stutters but finally, it’s off. And there it is. The pink carnation. “I didn’t forget. I didn’t know I should still be looking. But I never forgot.”

Shiro stares at the flower. Slowly, he reaches out, tracing the flower and up the stem, pushing up Keith’s sleeve to see the matching white lily.

“I never forgot you either.”

 

The first date Shiro takes Keith out on is to the botanical gardens. The air is warm that day, full of wished-on dandelion seeds and buzzing bugs. Behind a shaded hedge bush, they steal their first kiss. It tastes like summer and pollen.

 

Their love is pure and lasting as their white lilies, sweet as a flower’s nectar, ever changing and ever growing as spring itself. It is unforgettable.

 

  1. Don’t Forget



 

They keep Keith in a pool of white lilies. The flowers are beautiful, yes, but they’re not there for Keith to think they’re beautiful. The lilies are there to make Keith more beautiful.

They say it matches his pale human skin. They say is contrasts beautifully with his sealskin.

Sometimes they make him shift back and forth until both skins feel unfamiliar on his body. Sometimes they fill the area with water so he has to stay in his seal form or risk drowning. Sometimes they force him back into his human shape and take his sealskin away.

The legends say that if you take the skin of a selkie, they have to marry you. Keith doesn’t know if that’s true but he does know that after a few days, he would do anything, _anything,_ to get his sealskin back. The separation feels like someone is plucking out his heartstrings one by one.

He remembers the ocean in his deepest memories. The saltwater, the filtered light, the endless expanse.

He doesn’t remember how he became this, an attraction for humans to see a selkie in the flesh, to watch the feat of him changing over and over again like it doesn’t hurt. They try to keep him happy, to placate him with the white lilies that he used to love so dearly, but every day aches a little more.

 

There’s a face in the crowd. It does not look at him like others. In fact, it does not look at him at all.

Someone’s holding his sealskin and he feels more than hears them compel him to grab one of the flowers. He does, putting it behind his ear in the way he knows they like it. Camera flashes bounce off the glass.

In that moment of reflected light, it is only Keith and the water and the lilies. When the glare fades, the face in the crowd is gone.

Keith glances to where he saw the face in the crowd had been looking.

He could have sworn the man was studying the lock on Keith’s door.

 

A week passes. Lately, they’ve been changing the color of the water in Keith’s pool. He thinks they’re trying to make it imitate the blue-green of the sea, but nothing makes up for the kind of deep color in the darkest ocean depths. Keith hasn’t seen the man again. (He misses him. Something about him reminds Keith of… someone.)

The stars are out tonight. Above him, the stars of Pisces shine bright. He arranges the flowers in the water in the same shape, white lilies in the guise of stars, thinking of the days he used to look up from the ocean and see the same fish in the sky.

 

_(White lilies... White lilies used to mean something to him. What was it?)_

_(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget)_

 

Something behind him clicks.

Keith whips around, sealskin sliding off his human flesh so he can more easily defend himself. A streak of white hair catches the moonlight a second before Keith makes out the rest of the man’s face. Keith’s breath catches in his throat, a throb in his gills. It is the man from before, who had looked at Keith from behind the glass.

“Come on, we’re getting you out of here.”

There is something familiar about the man, in his voice, the scar along his nose, that streak of white in his black fur. ( _Fur?_ )

He grabs Keith’s hand and drags him away from that pathetic pool. They leave the stagnant water and sticky petals behind.

They dash out of the building, weaving down dirt paths and past other exhibits before finally passing through the last metal gate. Keith throws a glance behind them as they leave that horrid place, reading the letters on the top of the gate: _Zoo._

He swallows the sick in his stomach and concentrates on running.

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to come for you, Keith. I had to wait till Pisces was in the sky or I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold my human form. I tried to make sure there were people who could watch over you, but I know humans can be so cruel without even realizing it. They put you in a _cage-_ ”

“I- I know you?” Keith stumbles a bit, shaky on his human legs. His enclosure was always a little too small.

“Not in this form. I thought you might not recognize me, especially since it’s been so long-”

“How long?” The ground turns soft under his bare feet. It’s sand under his toes. “How long was I gone?”

He can taste the brine in the air and there- just over the sanddune- a glimpse of white foam. How close had he been all this time? Just a little more than a mile away from the ocean?

“A little under a year. They took you right as Pisces left the sky; none of us could come for you until now. I’m so sorry-”

“It’s okay.” Keith says breathlessly. He can feel the freedom on his skin in the ocean spray and the grains of sand. “You came for me.”

Their feet hit the water and Keith dives in. His sealskin flows easily back onto his body as he races through the waves. He twists and behind him, the outline of another selkie sharpens into clarity.

Everything falls into place. The voice, the scar, the fur. Of course it would be Shiro to come for him.

Keith whispers his name and Shiro nuzzles their noses together. The gesture, so familiar and loving, brings tears to Keith’s eyes. But the drops of saltwater are lost among all the rest that surround them.

They swim off to oceans far away from here, where the water is full of crystal and ice, where the tropical fish create a rainbow under the sea, where the depths are as black as ink and where they’re as blue as the summer sky. They travel with freedom; they travel with love. Now and forever, they travel the world together.

 

  1. DON’T FORGET



 

There is celebration tonight. In the fire nation, any celebration is always glorious. Non-benders can participate with fireworks or sparklers and every firebender there lends their flame to the sky. There are individual displays of might: manmade starbursts trying to reach their brethren, intricate swirls kept alight in feats of endurance, and unique and dazzling colors that stand out against the orange and yellow backdrop.

But the greatest moment of the night is when every citizen calls forth a fire and aims for the moon. It takes concentration and awareness to achieve, but this year, just like all the ones before, Keith watches all their flames meld together into a monstrous dragon.

It hangs in the air, frozen, and then Keith feels the tug in his gut as the dragon begins to leap and dance in the sky. Shiro grins at Keith, the flickering fire reflected in his eyes, and in this moment, Shiro is not the Avatar with the whole world hunting him, he is only Shiro who is in Keith’s home and who is here to celebrate and revel and who is here to love Keith back.

Their hands are both aflame when they link fingers and with the roaring dragon, they dance.

 

The celebration is to honor the last rising sun before Pisces comes to the night sky. Before firebenders’ powers diminish and dwindle like so many dying stars.

 

This month, under the the scales of Pisces, Shiro is learning waterbending. Keith follows Shiro to the Water Tribe, his bending too weak right now to seem threat enough for the tribe members to ban him.

During the days, he watches Shiro sway with the tides and sooth with the water. During the nights, he looks on as Shiro charts the waxing and waning of the moon. There are secrets kept within the tribe that Keith is not privy to. During these times, Keith spars with the tribe members. It’s rough, especially when the waterbenders play dirty, making the floor slick beneath his feet and dashing water in his eyes. It’s worth it when Shiro learns how to heal, smoothing the water along Keith’s skin and washing away his bruises.

 

It has always been a risk for Keith to travel with Shiro. Shiro is the Avatar, revered as a bringer of peace no matter what element he wields. Keith is a firebender, from a nation that many still viewed bitterly; who many wished to wipe off the map. He should have known that going with Shiro, even as his lover, even under the protection of the Avatar, was asking for trouble.

Under Pisces, he is the weakest. So when rogue waterbenders rip him from his bed, claw him out of the sheets, shove him out into the snow and cover his mouth and nose with a bubble of water, he can’t summon so much as a spark to defend himself. He feels the feeble flames die in the icy wind as his fingertips strain for anything, _anything._ They brush over a rock but the bitter cold is draining him and he hasn’t taken a breath in… in…

His hands go to his mouth but they slide right through the water and he’s drowning, _he’s drowning._ He thinks he might be crying, terror calling up tears in his eyes, but the saltwater only feeds the waterbenders. He chokes as his chest seizes. Something burns down his throat and he passes out.

 

_“You don’t deserve him.”_

_“He’s the Avatar. You’re nothing.”_

_“No firebender should ever touch the Avatar.”_

_“You’re so weak, as if you could compare to him.”_

 

Keith can feel Pisces’s laughter in the sky, mocking his weak and shivering body.

 

_(Under Pisces, Shiro came for him once. Was he once strong under Pisces?)_

_(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET)_

 

Shiro will come for him. Shiro has always come for him.

 

_“The Avatar left for the Earth Kingdom.”_

_“Didn’t even look for you.”_

_“Didn’t even notice you were gone.”_

_“He’s better off without you.”_

 

Where is Shiro? It’s so cold. Too cold to think, too cold to breath. No, Shiro wouldn’t have left him behind. They weren’t supposed to leave for the Earth Kingdom for another two days. How long has it been? Where is Shiro?

 

Pisces falls away from the night sky, but Keith has been too cold for too long. He curls up under a layer of flame, the only thing he’s capable of now, but still, he shakes.

 

Someone is screaming.

Keith shakes with the cold.

Someone is screaming.

A whip of water curls around his ankle and yanks him from his corner. Keith’s fire goes out.

Someone is screaming.

His captors are saying something about hiding Keith where he cannot be found, sealing him in the ice. Keith is shaking. It is not from the cold.

Someone is screaming. What are they saying?

_“WHERE IS HE?”_

Keith knows that voice. Desperately, he sends out a blast of fire, his palm flashing with warmth before he’s dragged back to his knees.

_I am here._

The ground trembles. Water churns. The wind roars. But it is fire that surrounds Shiro as he descends from the sky, vengeful as death.

His eyes glow blue as he waves a hand and the elements themselves rise to his beck and call. They rush past Keith, a wave of brutal air and dirt and water and flame, sweeping his captors far away from here.

The blue in Shiro’s eyes dims as he falls to his knees besides Keith, a hand going searchingly to Keith’s face. The cool touch of healing flows from Keith’s cheekbone to the rest of his body. Keith throws his arms around Shiro, burying his face in the other’s neck. He is afraid to cry, afraid to give the waterbenders more ammunition against him.

“I thought you left. Shiro-”

“I will never leave you behind. I don’t care where we are. I don’t care what they think. I don’t care what they offer me. You mean more to me than all of this, Keith. Never forget that.”

The space between them warms. Keith’s shivers subside. “I won’t forget,” he murmurs.

 

Shiro trains to become the Avatar. Keith stays by his side.

There are many wonders in this world. He’s seen people who can fly along the breeze, change the ebb of the ocean tides, call forth mountains from molehills, swallow flames. He has seen villages of ice and homes among the clouds. The greatest wonder he’s seen hasn’t been the boy who can control all these elements, whose eyes glow blue with power, who has a place among each nation.

No. The greatest wonder of all is getting to wake up each morning next to the man he loves. No matter what’s out the window- volcano peaks or stormy skies- he looks into Shiro’s eyes and knows he is home.

 

  1. **DON’T FORGET**



 

In the window of the spaceship, Keith sees his reflection. His eyes shine in the dim light, yellow as starfruit. His skin, usually a deep royal purple, is washed out to lavender. He’s been on this ship for too long without real sunlight on his skin. The only part of him that retains his previous color is the dark circles under his eyes, the contrast sharp against his pure yellow pupils.

An alarm blares. Other Galra begin to flood the halls. Keith’s claws graze his dagger before he follows.

Today they were scheduled to drain another planet of quintessence. Keith saw it beyond the glass for only a moment, when he was on the planet side of the ship. It was a beauty, thrumming with life beneath it’s jeweled mountains and diamond oceans. Most of the organisms there are composed of living crystal. The whole planet dazzles, even from this far out in space.

Yesterday, while Keith had been assigned as a guard in the throne room, he had heard Zarkon discussing its destruction. He had kept his face straight, only tightened his grip on the spear he was holding and dug his canines into his cheek.

As soon as he had been released from duty, he ran to the communication ports. With trembling hands, he had frantically contacted the Blade of Marmora, begging them to send help.

(He knows the empire has done it before. Destroyed entire planets. But he has only ever witnessed the aftermath. He has never seen the life before it’s going to be stolen away.)

He had only been able to give the Blade one day’s warning. He knew it wasn’t enough time. He knows he will watch the quintessence drain out of this planet life by life.

 

His communication port rings. He fumbles with it before the hologram flickers into being.

An Altean stares back at him. (There’s a split second where Keith feels like he must hide his Galra face, before he considers that this Altean must have known he was contacting a Galra since the communication signal come through the Blade’s channel.)

The Altean is a male with a scar across his nose, the edges of it just touching the glowing blue of his Altean marks. Behind him are the inside workings of a battleship and hope flares in Keith’s chest.

 

_(Was it the Altean marks that glowed blue or was it the eyes?)_

_(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

 

“You have to get as far away from the weapon as you can.” The Altean starts gruffly.

Keith’s brow furrows. “You’re going to attack the quintessence weapon directly? That’s where all of our defenses are fortified, any battle fleets would be better off attacking-”

“There are no battle fleets. There’s only me. No one else is going to get there soon enough.”

“How-”

“We don’t have time. You gave us the information we needed to save this planet and we will. You need to get as far away from the weapon as possible.”

“I- Okay.” Keith gets up, switching to audio communication only as he paces out of his bedroom and towards the north side of the ship. “Are- are you still there?”

“I’m still here. You’re moving away from the weapon?”

“Yeah.” He could be imagining it but he thinks he hears relief in the Altean’s voice.

“Good,” the Altean sighs. “I don’t want there to be any more casualties than there has to be.”

“Don’t talk like that. No one has to die today. Zarkon’s not going to rule forever. That’s why we’re all fighting for the cause, isn’t it?”

The Altean is silent for a moment. “They, uh- The Blade told me your name is Keith.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Keith ducks into a dark hallway to let a sentry pass before hurrying on.

“My name’s Shiro. I just-” It sounds like Shiro chokes for a moment. Keith almost asks if he’s okay before Shiro is speaking again. “I want to say thank you. It’s nice to have someone to talk to before- Nevermind, just- thanks for staying on the line. Can you just… talk to me until it’s over?”

“Until what’s over? You’re not going to die!” Keith’s feet stall. His hand tightens on the communication port. Desperately, he looks down the southern corridor, as if he could see through it into space, into Shiro’s ship.

“It’s okay.” Sound crackles through the speaker, like Shiro is laughing. Or like Shiro is crying. “It’s just one life for a whole planet.”

Keith understands now. The Blade didn’t send him help. They sent him a suicide bomber.

“I’ll remember you, Shiro. You’re saving so many lives. You’re- you’re a hero.” Keith feels tears trickling down into his fur, but he swallows the sounds. (Guilt spears through his heart. He should be convincing Shiro to turn back, to live another day. But the Altean is right. One life for many. This is what Keith asked for. (Isn’t it?)) He concentrates on talking to Shiro. “Zarkon’s going to be defeated. We’re all going to be free one day. In this life or the next.”

“I think it’s going to have to be the next.” This time, it’s definitely a laugh. A strained one, a pained one, one that makes something in Keith’s chest twist.

“I’m sorry, Shiro. I’m so sorry.”

There are other noises coming through the speaker, whirring and screeching. He barely picks up Shiro’s whisper. “Tell me it’s worth it.”

“It’s worth it.”

The connection cuts out.

 

There’s a _BOOM_ from the opposite end of the ship. Moments later, the walls shake around him. There are no flames but phantom heat blows down the hall, ruffling Keith’s hair. It dries the tears off his face.

 

There is no way for Keith to commemorate Shiro, no safe place for him to build shrine on Zarkon’s ship. There are only his memories. But everyday Keith remembers the Altean who sacrificed himself for a planet; the Altean who gave up his life for so many others. He believes it is enough.

 

+1 I Will Never Forget You

 

Lately, Keith hasn’t been all there. Something is throwing him off, just enough to make him feel unbalanced. He’s not sure anyone else has noticed yet.

It’s a nagging the back of his mind, like he’s forgotten something. His concentration is divided. It’s dangerous. He convinces himself that his hands can’t feel unsteady when he grabs his bayard. He can’t be the reason they can’t form Voltron. He can’t be the reason they lose a battle.

He tries to shake it from his mind. It keeps him up into the night, until dark circles haunt his eyes. He wants to tear himself apart just to find the piece of himself he’s forgotten.

He’s wanted to tear himself apart before, when he was a Galra working for Zarkon-

No, no, that’s not right. He’s only half Galra; he’s never worked for Zarkon.

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

Alone in his bedroom, Keith trembles. What is he forgetting?

 

The Blue Lion comes to life, as seen from the window of the Red Lion. Its panels glow neon blue with a surge of power. It distracts Keith, so much so that Lance’s well aimed blast hits Red right in the side. The whole craft rocks with the force and Keith has felt blown off his feet before, when the four elements roared around him-

No, the druids can’t control the elements. He’s never been in a fight with elemental magic.

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

Shiro’s voice echos through the comm, asking if Keith’s okay and if they should end training early. Keith shakes his head and grabs the controls.

 

Lance drinks out of Keith’s glass of water before promptly spitting it out into the sink. Expression appalled, he asks, “What the quiznak, Keith? Are you drinking saltwater?”

He’s lived in saltwater, why wouldn’t he-

No, he doesn’t. Humans don’t drink saltwater.

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

Keith rubs at his forehead, ignoring the other paladins concerned questions. He can already feel the saltwater making him nauseous. He wonders if it’s making him delirious as well.

 

They pass a tattoo parlor while getting supplies at a space mall. Pidge jokingly suggests they all get tattoos. Keith says he already has one.

They all look at him oddly. Hunk murmurs awkwardly, “Dude, we’ve seen you in the showers. I don’t think you have any.”

Keith looks down at his hand and blinks.

Of course he doesn’t have a tattoo. He never had the money on Earth and he certainly hasn’t gotten one since.

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

That night Keith dreams of crushed pink carnations. When he asks Pidge if they know anything about flower meanings, they tell him pink carnations mean _I will never forget you_. Keith thinks of mangled petals and broken stems and feels sick.

 

The light glances off Keith’s nails. They look gold in the sunlight.

Keith’s eyes go to the sky. There are no Galra battleships in sight, but still he wonders if he is going to die young again.

He doesn’t want to die young again, at least not until he’s told Shiro-

Told Shiro what?

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

Keith closes his eyes.

 

The Galra call Shiro the Champion. He is the Champion of the Arena.

He is the Champion of something else, something more important. What is it?

 _(don’t forget, Don’t forget, Don’t Forget, DON’T FORGET,_ **_DON’T FORGET_ ** _)_

Keith searches for it, shirt wrinkling over his heart as his hand grips the material tight. He looks down to where the fabric is bunched under his fingers.

 

He _remembers_.

 

“Shiro, I promised you I would remember you. In this life or another. And I will never forget you.”

“Tell me it was worth the wait.”

_“It was worth it.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [the-rf-gay](http://the-rf-gay.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing this story :)
> 
> Please, please read Perennial (linked below!) it's so amazing and incredible and adds to these stories in such world building ways, so please check it out!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Perennial](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11814096) by [LittleWhiteTie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleWhiteTie/pseuds/LittleWhiteTie)




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